{"id":166607,"date":"2025-06-08T03:28:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T03:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166607\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T03:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T03:28:11","slug":"ross-monaghan-from-glasgow-street-thug-to-running-with-global-cartel-bosses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/166607\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Monaghan: From Glasgow street thug to running with global cartel bosses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>EIGHT years ago Ross Monaghan was lucky to escape after an attempt on his life in broad daylight.<\/p>\n<p>But last weekend, the Lyons senior gang member was <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/14886669\/gangsters-scotland-shot-dead-spain-fuengirola\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shot dead along with Eddie Lyons Jnr<\/a> in a brutal hit in Fuengirola, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/where\/costa-del-sol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Costa del Sol<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Photo of Ross Monaghan.\" height=\"960\" width=\"782\" data-credit=\"Alan MacGregor Ewing - The Sun Glasgow\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2017-pix-alan-macgregor-ewing-302288863_4bcaa4.jpg\" data-caption=\"Ross Monaghan was shot dead along with Eddie Lyons Jnr in the Costa del Sol\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2017-pix-alan-macgregor-ewing-302288863_4bcaa4.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>Ross Monaghan was shot dead along with Eddie Lyons Jnr in the Costa del SolCredit: Alan MacGregor Ewing &#8211; The Sun Glasgow<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Monaghan's Bar in Fuengirola, Spain.\" height=\"434\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/monaghans-bar-fuengirola-ross-monaghan-1000911709.jpg\" data-caption=\"The pair were shot in a horror gangland bloodbath at Monaghan's Irish bar in Fuengirola\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/monaghans-bar-fuengirola-ross-monaghan-1000911709.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>The pair were shot in a horror gangland bloodbath at Monaghan&#8217;s Irish bar in Fuengirola<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Eddie Lyons Jnr and Ross Monaghan walking.\" height=\"960\" width=\"800\" data-credit=\"Les Gallagher - The Sun Glasgow\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eddie-lyons-jnr-ross-monaghan-302351628_0f947d.jpg\" data-caption=\"A masked gunman shot Lyons Jnr dead outside the pub before turning his attention to Monaghan\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eddie-lyons-jnr-ross-monaghan-302351628_0f947d.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>A masked gunman shot Lyons Jnr dead outside the pub before turning his attention to MonaghanCredit: Les Gallagher &#8211; The Sun Glasgow<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan had a <a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/14896346\/murdered-gangster-ross-monaghan-warned-bounty-head-cartel\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u00a3250,000 price tag on his head<\/a> over a feud with the Spanish drugs cartel linked to the south of England, it&#8217;s been claimed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Sources say threats had been made in the months leading up to Saturday&#8217;s double execution, but it wasn&#8217;t the first time that someone had tried to kill Monaghan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In January 2017, it was just like any other day in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/where\/glasgow\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Glasgow<\/a> area of Penilee as parents took their children to school.<\/p>\n<p>But little did they know there was a gunman lying in wait with a kids buggy which had a firearm in it.<\/p>\n<p>The gunman honed in on target Monaghan and fired two shots, one hitting him in the shoulder, the other missing.<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time and quickly fled to Spain following the attack.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Richardson and Martyn Fitzsimmons were both tried then cleared of the gangland hit on Monaghan at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan had previously been cleared of killing Kevin \u2018Gerbil\u2019 Carroll after a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict him.<\/p>\n<p>The Gerbil was a feared Daniels clan enforcer known for extreme violence to anyone who got in his way or crossed him.<\/p>\n<p>Carroll&#8217;s earliest brush with the law came in 2004 when he was charged with attempted murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The FULL story of Scotland&#8217;s biggest gangster Jamie &#8216;The Iceman&#8217; Stevenson Coming This Sunday<\/p>\n<p>He was accused of shooting John Madden, a pal of Eddie Lyons Snr, with an AK-47 but the case later collapsed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Carroll, who was from Milton, then made the headlines in 2006 when he was hit in the stomach in a drive by shooting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Four years later, Carroll and associate Ross Sherlock were hit at 10pm one evening as they stood talking to others at the roadside in Bishopbriggs next to their BMW X5 &#8211; a favourite set of wheels for criminals at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nobody has been charged with that crime which left Carroll fighting for his life in Glasgow Royal Infirmary under the guard of armed police.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Gerbil was then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/13953082\/kevin-gerbil-carroll-murder-shooting-glasgow-asda\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shot dead in the Asda car park<\/a> in Robroyston in January 2010 in an attack that took just 25 seconds.<\/p>\n<p>A car pulled up just before 1.30pm, two gunmen got out and fired 13 shots into the back of The Gerbil\u2019s Audi A3 as stunned shoppers looked on.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan was arrested in July that year and put on trial for the gangland hit but he denied all charges against him and lodged a special defence of incrimination against eight people.<\/p>\n<p>The trial collapsed due to insufficient evidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mugshot of William Paterson, convicted of murdering Kevin &quot;Gerbil&quot; Carroll.\" height=\"725\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"Universal News and Sport (Europe)\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2010-claimed-elsewhere-time-incriminated-170985137_c6881e.jpg\" data-caption=\"The Gerbil was shot dead in the Asda car park in Robroyston in January 2010\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/2010-claimed-elsewhere-time-incriminated-170985137_c6881e.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>The Gerbil was shot dead in the Asda car park in Robroyston in January 2010Credit: Universal News and Sport (Europe)<a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Ross Monaghan leaving Glasgow High Court after being cleared of murder charges.\" height=\"960\" width=\"697\" data-credit=\"PA:Press Association\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ross-monaghan-leaves-glasgow-high-5072598_8e2892.jpg\" data-caption=\"Monaghan was arrested in July that year and put on trial for the gangland hit but he denied all charges\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ross-monaghan-leaves-glasgow-high-5072598_8e2892.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan was arrested in July that year and put on trial for the gangland hit but he denied all chargesCredit: PA:Press Association<\/p>\n<p>Eddie Lyons Jnr, Stephen Lyons and Ross Monaghan all grew up in Milton.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2000, the Lyons family had infiltrated a publicly funded community centre in the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They took control of the Chirnsyde Community Initiative which received over \u00a31.4million in taxpayer funding and turned out to be a front for organised crime and laid the groundwork for a bloody feud with the rival Daniel Crime Clan.<\/p>\n<p>Eddie&#8217;s father ended up in the dock after he admitted racking up more than a quarter of a million pounds in mortgage frauds by giving lenders fake income details.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In April 2016, Eddie Jnr and Monaghan later appeared before the same court but were cleared of a vicious street attack on three men outside a bar in East Dunbartonshire which took place in April 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the trial collapsed when two of the alleged victims said they had no memory of what happened to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After the attempt on his life outside the school in Penilee, Monaghan fled to Spain and he struck up a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/14891287\/kinahan-crimelords-support-relatives-ross-monaghan-eddie-lyons\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">relationship with the Irish Kinahan crime cartel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan is said to have been instrumental in building an alliance between the Lyons family and the world&#8217;s most wanted gang when he boldly approached godfather Daniel Kinahan several years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He formed a relationship with the global mob boss that has prevailed ever since, giving the Lyons extra power and control over Scotland&#8217;s illegal drug trade.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Former top cop Graeme Pearson said: \u201cMonaghan started out as a young man trying to make his way in his business and would\u00a0have to be trusted to do that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was part of a group which became known for extreme violence. Monaghan going on trial for murder and being acquitted through lack of evidence proved his bottle to the gang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen he was shot at and survived. He earned his stripes in that world.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And it all becomes part of a growing\u00a0criminal CV. But people like Monaghan make enemies everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pearson says he tried to warn of the threat posed by\u00a0super cartels 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<p>He said: \u201cThe South Americans realised their relationship with America was breaking down. Their drugs and money\u00a0were being seized and they started looking for another business plan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEurope was ready and waiting for cocaine. The nation states had lowered their borders, so moving between them became very easy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only problem was getting the product in. It started with West Africa, then Spain and then the Dutch ports.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGangs from all over Europe, which had previously been involved with other types of drugs, sex trafficking and theft, all became interested.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlasgow gangs were involved in shoplifting jewellery and gold and had contacts in other countries who were willing to buy and sell. Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t get the authorities to pay much attention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"#\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Daniel Kinehan arriving at Dublin Airport.\" height=\"723\" width=\"960\" data-credit=\"The Sun\" data-img=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/no-photographer-byline-daniel-kinehan-214539239.jpg\" data-caption=\"Monaghan boldly approached godfather Daniel Kinahan several years ago\"   loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/no-photographer-byline-daniel-kinehan-214539239.jpg\" role=\"img\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>6<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan boldly approached godfather Daniel Kinahan several years agoCredit: The Sun<\/p>\n<p>Monaghan&#8217;s links with the Kinahan cartel<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content--intro\">Irish Sun crime editor Stephen Breen, who wrote the book Kinahan Assassins along with colleague John Hand, knows all about the Irish crime cartel.<\/p>\n<p>He revealed that Ross Monaghan came up while the pair were doing research for their book.<\/p>\n<p>Stephen said: \u201cRoss Monaghan had cropped up in terms of someone who had connections to Thomas \u2018Bomber\u2019 Kavanagh.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe&#8217;s now serving time for drug trafficking but it shows you the Kinahan reach, the tentacles are spread far and wide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe were doing research for the book and his name came up in terms of having meetings around 2016-2017 with the Kinahan organisation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Kinahan organisation had a branch in the UK, and the CEO of that branch was Thomas \u2018Bomber\u2019 Kavanagh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was meeting individuals from Glasgow, from Liverpool, from Birmingham, from London and it was all about the wholesale trafficking of drugs into the UK.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cYou always have organised crime groups calling on their associates, calling on their resources and their contacts across Europe for help if a gangland war takes place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s very possible that this could happen on this occasion although the Kinahans have been fairly decimated by the investigations of the Irish authorities and targeting those who were prepared to take up the gun on their behalf.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last Saturday, Monaghan was watching the Champions League final with Eddie Lyons Jnr in his own bar in Fuengirola when the pair were shot in a horror gangland bloodbath.<\/p>\n<p>A masked gunman blasted Lyons Jnr dead outside the pub before turning his attention to Monaghan, who was shot several times as he tried to scramble for cover.<\/p>\n<p>Terrified customers and staff hid under tables and chairs and it&#8217;s believed Monaghan may have had a \u00a3250,000 price tag in his head over a feud with a Spanish drugs cartel linked to the south of England.<\/p>\n<p><a aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/news\/14901131\/spanish-cops-ross-monaghan-eddie-lyons-jnr-knew-well\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Spanish cops were able to ID<\/a> executed Monaghan and Eddie Jnr as they \u201cknew them well\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Scottish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thescottishsun.co.uk\/topic\/scottish-conservatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tory<\/a> leader Russell Findlay remembers watching Monaghan in court as he tried to dupe jurors into believing he was a \u201csmart, besuited and respectable young man\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-crime reporter said: \u201cThis was a complete fiction. He was a dangerous drug-dealing, gangland thug.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s usually the case in this world that foot soldiers end up in prison or dead.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou would think the penny might drop that those ordering and directing the drugs and violence are often left counting the money.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Spanish authorities and Scottish counterparts should be asking themselves how on earth a drug-dealing thug and known member of a major international drugs gang appeared to have the ownership of a prominent business which quite literally had his name above the door?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA guy like that should never have had the ability to put his name on assets for which the only source of their funding has been drugs.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EIGHT years ago Ross Monaghan was lucky to escape after an attempt on his life in broad daylight.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,188,13737,918,4884,209,529,712,5120,5119,104,213,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-166607","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-gangsters-and-criminals","11":"tag-glasgow","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-longtail","14":"tag-police","15":"tag-scotland","16":"tag-scottish-crime","17":"tag-section-newsscottish-news","18":"tag-spain","19":"tag-sun-club","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}